Bolder Era and NEA?

Everything we’ve read about Rocco Landesman, newly confirmed as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, suggests that this very important agency will have a much higher profile than we’ve seen in recent years. He’s proven to be driven, entrepreneurial, successful and plain spoken. His Midwest roots and love of baseball and country music could bolster relations with Congress and fend off charges of elitism. His early statements already foretell a much-needed bold approach.

Washington State’s ties to the NEA are strong. Representative Norm Dicks is perhaps the most stalwart and effective champion of the NEA in Congress, a role he’s played throughout his career. Long-time students of the NEA will also remember that former Senator Slade Gordon, with urgings of ArtsFund and other cultural organizations, led a pivotal vote in the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee to save the NEA in its darkest hour.

Landesman claims to have a new slogan for the NEA – “Art Works” – and he sees the arts as integral to our economy. So do many people here in our community as evidenced by the Prosperity Partnership’s backing of legislation to authorize the creation of Cultural Access Fund districts in Washington State. As the Prosperity Partnership sees it, our cultural life is a “strategic competitive advantage” for attracting and retaining the best talent and the best businesses to make this a top place to live and to make our economy prosper.

As Landesman put it in a story today in The New York Times:
“We need to have a seat at the big table with the grown-ups. Art should be part of the plans to come out of this recession.”
“If we’re going to have any traction at all,” he added, “there has to be a place for us in domestic policy.”

We’ve had some good and probably essential steady, diplomatic leadership of the NEA since it nearly folded more than a decade ago. This is the right time for the kind of boldness and energy Landesman promises. It’s also time for all of us who care about our communities and care about our cultural life to step in with our support.